Winter Survival
by Urbia
Summary: This is a sequel to 'Busted' in which Akabane and Kagami are trapped in virtual simulation within the Infinite Castle. They find themselves in the Arctic. This story was written in response to a blanket-fic challenge.


**Winter Survival**

The mouths of the alley nipped shut. 

Akabane stopped, heels clicking sharply. He touched his hat, donning a confused frown on his lips that nobody would discern standing two feet in front of him. He himself could not even tell where the blackness of its brim ended and the space beyond it began. Before he could voice a remark critiquing this change of situation, the ephemeral night snapped into a blinding white, and the glare of a frozen landscape rushed through his skull. Squinting, the Jackal pivoted and cast his gaze in all directions. From horizon to horizon, he found no break to the monotonous ice-age motif the Infinite Castle had dealt upon him.

And him, too.

The thin layer of snow shifted beneath the soles of his sleek boots, compromising his treading purchase as he strode slowly and deliberately, smiling ever so amiably, towards the huddling shape of exposed flesh. He looked at Kagami, who observed Akabane through a surly sideways glance. The cold had partially frozen the rivets of blood on Kagami's bare back before they were even half dried, and they could only guess that the remains of his blazer and shirt lay buried in the endless white carpeting the artificial world. It's a shame, said Akabane, fingering the brim of his hat, that you would die of hypothermia rather than my doing. If I am not mistaken, you would have at least enjoyed the latter.

Kagami's eyes glistened, his finely shaped brows drawing together to produce a fierce look. I don't know what's happening, he forced the words through teeth the cold stubbornly kept clenched, but you can die here of hypothermia. I'm leaving. Shivering uncontrollably, he rose out of a heat-preserving crouch— and promptly tensed as Akabane's silhouette whisked into a blur against the pale background. 

The attacker disappeared from view. Kagami reeled forwards from sudden impact, a hot splash of blood chasing the chill from his back from the inside out. Agony forced his breath up his throat, a choked scream lost in the iron-rich spray of steaming red. The dizzying momentum from Akabane's attack carried Kagami through a mirror, newly formed in failed last-second defense. He glimpsed his own shocked expression among its spinning, glistening fragments before he hit the ground.

Kagami woke to the pain of an obviously injured body. Shallow breaths sucked blood-scented oxygen into lethargic lungs and gradually fed sparse life to his senses. He felt leaden and heavy on the floor, but even on top of that he felt the compounded pressure of one extra body and a thick bearskin blanket. He took a guess and frowned. Braving the possibility of being right, he slit open his eyes and tried to see. His surroundings were no longer so barren. Weighed down with apparent dampness, golden forelocks crisscrossed his vision, looking to be on the verge of thawing from a frozen state. Between those and his pale lashes, he discerned a pile of clothes, a large black hat propped at its apex, left at the base of what appeared to be the wall of an igloo. A splash of white stood out from the folds of black: his pants. He couldn't move, so he coughed thickly.

Are you awake, Kagami Kyoji-kun? Akabane's voice sifted across Kagami's scapula, peppering the blond's wounds with painful stinging. Kagami gasped, and hearing him, Akabane trailed a warm tongue over the parallel furrows.

Sharing body heat, we will get through this cold spell very comfortably together," said Akabane, a smug smile curled his lips. "How inconsiderate of you for having tried to leave.

Seeing as he had no choice but to comply, Kagami shut his eyes and waited, should sleep decide to accept him again. Akabane, meanwhile, continued to breathe his words into Kagami's neck and shoulders. It appears you were standing on a sheet of black ice. When you fell, you took both of us through the frozen lake. His tone carried a sort of patronizing patience as though their ordeal was Kagami's fault. But it was amusing to watch you crash into your own mirror and knock yourself unconscious. There are shards still embedded in your flesh which you would be wise to pull out.

Irritable in his wretched state, Kagami wet his blood-caked lips and responded with scorn. I suppose I shouldn't have expected you to do it while I was out cold.

That would have been less entertaining, Kyoji-kun.

It's a pity I must disappoint you. With a thought, Kagami let the mirror shards disintegrate to diamond dust and float out of his wounds. 

Akabane's lean fingers explored Kagami beneath the blankets until they tapped against something by his lower back, where pain jabbed acutely. You forgot the ice crystals from the cracked sheet, said Jackal, deftly coaxing out the piece of frozen lake with a slick, wet sound broken by his patient's gasp. I'm sorry. I should have removed it slowly since you like it so much. He chuckled with humour-ridden pleasure at his moment of err, lightly patting his hostage on the backside. Then, the saccharine smile on his lips shifted to a more neutral, thoughtful line. He passed his hand over Kagami's skin towards his hip, slender fingers curling slightly to the front. Kyoji-kun, are you getting warmer? 

Stiff tips of blond hair pricked the skin of Akabane's throat as Kagami rocked his head back, and Jackal half-lifted himself, interpreting Kagami's restlessness as a desire to move. The rough edges of the bearskin blanket rose off the hide-carpeted floor, exposing the tangle of limbs to the cooler air beyond them. A pale heel dug clumsily into the cured and tanned folds, gripping for purchase; sore muscles tensed up Kagami's leg for an instant, the force flipping him onto his back. Connecting, the blond winced heavily, a wary look directed into Akabane's eyes. For a second, nobody moved. Then Jackal freed another icicle from Kagami's arm.

Unfortunately, you don't have that many ice splinters. They have all since melted away.

If you are hungry, I found dried rabbit meat in a skin bag. However, neither speaker nor listener appeared particularly interested. A hitched gasp was all that punctured the silence as Akabane wriggled the last remaining icicle he could find. He looked down at Kagami's flushed features and was amused to notice that the blonde's normally pallid eyes were more dark than light, purple irises engulfed by boldly dilated pupils. It amazes me to find you so delighted by my company, Akabane remarked with lidded eyes, cupping the side of Kagami's neck with his hand, as though he were holding a house pet by the scruff. His grip tightened a little, displaying a subtle show of dominance, which, judging from the way Kagami laxly tilted back his head, was duly accepted. Thumb gingerly rubbed against jugular. I know a way we can keep warm... But there is a heavy price for fancying someone as myself.

A grin separated Akabane's lips as he considered. Cut a diamond the wrong way, all you get is dust. Cut them the right way and...

Kagami wore a vaguely disturbed expression but said nothing, so Akabane continued.

I was just thinking of something rather fitting. As powerful and egotistical as he is, Kagami Kyoji-kun can be rather ... tantalizing when he is cornered. The shocked looks on his face are as precious as gems...

Slivers of light reflected off the unsheathed scalpels as they ran from Akabane's hands to each of Kagami's shoulders, pinning him down so viciously one might imagine he were previously attempting to resist Jackal with all his strength, rather than quietly lying there, exchanging body warmth. The twisting blades wrenched a tortured cry from the victim. Fear pinching in his gut, Kagami writhed like an impaled snake, twisting in the sheets and blindly driving his fists into the heat source he knew to be more threatening than life-saving even there in the Arctic. He enjoyed a tiny shred of hope when his efforts relieved the weight pressing down on him, thinking that perhaps, just perhaps, he had a chance of creating enough distance between them to form a glassy shield. A self-satisfied smile on the lips of his attacker suggested otherwise. Scalpels tore loose from his shoulders and sank into either thigh. The opposing mass slammed into him and Kagami knew nothing but pain that engulfed all his senses into a dumb eclipse. Only the rawness he felt in his throat informed him, a second later, that he had screamed. Another second later, he realized that Akabane was speaking to him again in a mocking, husky tone.

You will not act superior around me anymore

The first thought that stampeded through Kagami's mind was that Akabane had just raped him with a scalpel—the pain was that intense—yet his reclaimed senses fit together a different reality. The Jackal panted in a rhythm in sync with each pulse of pain, thawing the stiffness out of the blonde's hair into which his face was pressed. Sure enough, the blades were still embedded in Kagami's thighs, fixing them into position. Kagami noticed dampness seeping beneath his fingernails and realized they were clinched into Akabane's collarbone. He relinquished their grip and let his arms descend, bent limply around his head among the tossled spread of golden hair, his jaws gaping open, each breath tasting of blood. As Akabane thrust into him, Kagami took it with hardly a moan, hot tears matting the long lashes flat against the narrow lines of his eyes. The tips of many blades dusted pinpricks of pain along Kagami's chest and abdomen, lancing forth at him from the Doctor's scarred body. The friction between their writhing shapes eased into a blood-warm sliding massage, intermingled with sweat and melted winter dripping from their frayed hair.

Within half a dozen mercilessly tearing thrusts, a trembling hand planted itself against Akabane's chest, the arm behind it fighting to straighten until the elbow managed to lock. The Jackal paused, baleful gaze dropping to this token gesture of resistance, surprised by this display of resurrected will from the huddled and bleeding body. Feral curiosity gathered in Akabane's gaze, mercurial and impatient, but tolerant enough to accept this small intermission should it prove to grant him a morsel of unexpected entertainment. He locked eyes with Kagami, evaluating him inquisitively, then pulled out. Yes, Kyoji-kun? he said, his tone balancing the fine line between cool politeness and threat.

It took Kagami many deep breaths before he was able to speak in a small, grating voice, sapped of strength in its volume but not in defiance. You are too rough. An upward tilt of his face dropped sandy bangs away from his eyes, tightened with strain and reddened at the edges. He began to rise. Steadying his other hand against the floor, Kagami forced himself up and slouched forwards in a kneeling position, his features mere inches from Akabane's. Blond hair stained itself crimson as stray tips swept over welling gashes in his trembling shoulders, his head hunched low between them. He stifled a whimper deep within his throat as he settled down, sides heaving something fierce, and somewhere amongst all that panting, he found his words again. Go a little easier on me.

The malice ebbed away from Abakane's eyes and their edges crinkled with joviality. "Certainly, Kyoji-kun," he replied with the usual utmost respect. "You should have told me earlier."

The air rushing out of his lungs in unguarded relief, Kagami pitched forward the short distance and sagged limp against Akabane's chest, feather-light lashes raking against the subtly ridged scars. Gentle hands skimmed over the open gashes of the wounded back, steady and circular in their caress. Lowering his chin, Akabane let the scent of Kagami's hair fill his nostrils, hair tainted with the same overpowering stench of blood that covered everything else within their close proximity.

Is this better?

Kagami shuddered.

You're not crying, are you? Kyoji-kun?

The sound of whistling Arctic wind faded.

Kyoji-kun, we're back. Open your eyes.

Kagami glanced up, blinking. The igloo was gone, the blankets were gone, and—above all—all the snow was gone. The grime-heavy walls of the Infinite Castle alleyway stretched higher and higher, drawing his eyes upwards to his general place of residence, as though beckoning for him to go home at last, to free himself from the arms of this man that had caused him such grievous bodily harm and violation.

Letting his eyes rest shut again, Kagami slid himself halfway down the length of Akabane's body and pooled there as a boneless mass. He felt a hand gently stroke his neck and rub against his jugular.

Akabane watched his uke faint with a merry twinkle in his eyes. Priceless are the diamonds you cut the right way...  



End file.
